a bleeding purple utah jazz blog

Game 79 of 82: Utah Jazz vs. Portland Trail Blazers (24-55)

Pre-Game Quotage**Tyrone Corbin, asked what the team is working on in practice at this point
Working to get better. Yeah, working to get better. We have Portland tomorrow, we gotta understand what it’s gonna take for us to have a chance against these guys. We gotta get back in transition. They’re posting guys more on ours. They’re playing for a playoff run and we’re trying to get better. So, we’re still trying to make sure we understand how we have to continue to prepare for each and every opponent….We wanna try and make sure we’re working to get better in these last four games, and see what we can improve on in this situation, and get the guys ready for the summer work, to be ready for next year.**Corbin on integrating Erik Murphy
You know, we don’t have a lot of practice time. We can’t bang the other guys a lot. He’s ex–happy to be here. He’s been working one-on-one a little bit. Just tryna get him a couple plays, and get him the feel for those couple plays…But you know, we’ll have time. We’ll try and see how we can finish up the year with him, and then, you know, we have the summer.

**Richard Jefferson on being able to show NBA teams he has plenty left in the tank
I can’t thank coach Corbin enough. I remember the first day I showed up here in September. He kinda gave me a phone call early, after I got traded, and then when I got here, they were like, “Hey, we want you to play. We want you to play. I don’t care what happened last place, or what’s been going on, you know, we want you to play.” And, you know, just from that very beginning and even giving me the opportunity to start early in the season, it really gave me the confidence that I needed…Coming into this season, I didn’t have starting, I didn’t have how many points. My only goal was to play 82 games.**Derrick Favors, asked what is the team’s motivation in the last few games
Just, coming out there, just playing hard, and you know, just trying to get wins right now**Favors on defending LaMarcus Aldridge
Just hope he miss the shot. You know, you know he gonna do the turnaround jumper, or, and shoot pick and pop jumpers. So you know, best thing to do is just hope he miss it.

Quote of the NightMatt Harpring at 1:15 in the first quarter, after Enes Kanter threw down an alley-oop to put the Jazz up 27-21: Where has this team been?!

Post-Game Quotage**Tyrone Corbin, asked how the game got away
Well, they made some shots…You know, give ‘em credit, they made some plays down the stretch.**Corbin, asked why the starting lineup change, and if Alec Burks has earned a starting job
Well, we just wanna look at some different things at this point. You know, Richard’s done a great job for us. We still need him to continue to play minutes for us.Will this be the starting lineup in the last three games?
We’ll see. We’ll see.Is there anything you didn’t like about that lineup?
You know, there are some things. We still lost the game.

**Trey Burke on the starting lineup
We went out there confident, and I think we played well together. … I think [the lineup’s advantages are] we can get out in transition. You know, Alec’s ability to get to the rim, it opens up the perimeter shooting. With Enes [Kanter] down there, you know, he hit me two times in a row, and I hit, knocked down threes. So, it’s a whole bunch of different looks. I think the most important thing is we get out in transition to score…I think we got a lot of good young talent, and the future’s bright.**Derrick Favors on Enes Kanter and Rudy Gobert’s development
You know, they, pretty, they young, and you know–I’m young too. I don’t know why I said that, but (laughs) I feel like I’ve been in the league forever. They good, man, you know? Enes a good player, and Rudy, you know, he’ll come in and surprise people. You know, he can play, man. He can rebound, block shots and he’s getting better on the offensive end. He kinda remind me of myself when I first came into the league.**Gordon Hayward, asked how much it helps this group to play together more
Playing together, you get that experience. You get chemistry. And you can’t teach that.What’s the difference between game experience and practice experience?
Totally on different ends. You know, there’s nothing like playing in a real game. Even if you go hard in practice, it’s still just practice…There’s nothing like playing in a game.**Enes Kanter on his rebounding
Offensive rebounds, I mean it’s just, it’s natural. But defense, you know, I’m just trying to work hard.

**Rudy Gobert on learning patience while waiting for a chance to play
That’s the hardest part, you know? Like, st–keep working hard, and when you waiting, you know, for your opportunity, like, people outside, like, they say you’re not good enough to play yet. But you know you can play. And that’s the hardest part, but I can’t, I’m used to it now, so.**Gobert, asked whether he’s thinking less now on the court
I just understand, like, when I go, like, almost nobody can block me when I go straight to the rim. I got long arms, I just gotta use, you know? If I’m scared, of course people gonna block me, or, you know? I just gotta play my game. I know I can do it, so.**Gobert on the future
I just thinking about the future, and I can’t wait, you know, to be a big part of this team. That’s why I work hard, and I hope in a couple next year, I’ll be a big part of this team.

Random Stuff, etc.** In case anyone is interested, Favors’ favorite cartoon growing up was Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, and he was a Donatello guy.** The Blazers had never swept the Jazz, until this year.** People calling Rudy Gobert “Rudini” with an assist from the truck: Matt Harpring** People that later changed “Rudini” to “Godini”: Craig Bolerjack** People calling Alec Burks “Trey, Alec Burke that is”: Craig Bolerjack** Raja Bell said something about no one wanting to play in Utah on Jim Rome’s show a few days ago (I haven’t heard the interview; just saw tweets about it). Have it on good authority Harpring recently said the same thing during a Jazz “Chalk Talk” event.** This was said on 1280 The Zone’s Saturday show last Saturday:

[Erik Murphy was] born in Lyon, France. So maybe he speaks French and can hang out with Rudy Gobert a little bit. Who, by the way, the feeling I get around the team is that he’s not liked all that much. Rudy Gobert. Maybe it’s ’cause he’s a rookie. Maybe it’s ’cause he doesn’t speak fluent, complete English. I don’t know what the deal is, but he’s kinda had a disconnect there with his buddies on the team.

Unintentional Dirty Quote Machines of the Night (UDQM)**Craig Bolerjack to Matt Harpring on #JazzTV: We didn’t take a picture at halftime. What’s up with you?**Boler on Dorrell Wright three: Trey, a little late coming out.**Harpring: I’d love to get you on a Bucket Chart, Boler. That’d be a good case study. You need to come to my camp, in the summertime.Boler: You’ll buy, uh, a little tasty chicken afterwards?Harpring: Well, I’ll give you a free ride to camp, instead of paying for it this year. I know you’ve paid for it in the past.Boler: Thanks a lot, yeah. You know, I’ll sneak in the backdoor there, and you won’t even know I’m there. (H/T @bjcseven and @slcdunk)**Boler: Kanter on the reach around. (H/T @5kl, @SurlyMae)

To close: Can’t embed it here, but here’s the Rudy Gobert block on one end and bucket on the other.